May Airline Traffic: Five-Month Domestic Traffic Up 5.8 Percent From 2004

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Contact BTS 36-05 Dave Smallen 202-366-5568

Thursday, August 11, 2005 - U.S. airlines carried 5.8 percent more domestic passengers and flew 1.1 percent more domestic flights during the first five months of 2005 than they did during the same period in 2004, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) today reported, in a release of preliminary data (Table 1).

BTS, a part of DOT's Research and Innovative Technology Administration, reported that the airlines carried 266.0 million domestic passengers during the first five months of 2005, up from the 251.4 million carried between January and May 2004 (Table 2). The passengers were carried on 4.12 million flights, up 1.1 percent from the 4.07 million flights operated in 2004 (Table 1).

In other domestic comparisons from the first five months of 2004 to the first five months of 2005:

Revenue passenger miles, a measure of the number of passengers and the distance flown, were up 6.0 percent.

Available seat-miles, a measure of airline capacity, were up 1.6 percent.

Passenger load factor, passengers carried as a proportion of available seats, was up 3.1 percentage points.

Flight stage length, the average non-stop distance flown per departure, was up 2.0 percent.

Passenger trip length, the average distance flown per passenger, was up 0.2 percent at 864 miles per trip.

Among airlines, Southwest Airlines carried 34.7 million domestic passengers during the first five months of 2005, the most of any airline (Table 3).

Among airports, Hartsfield-Jackson International in Atlanta was the busiest U.S. airport for domestic travel during the first five months of 2005, with 16.2 million passenger boardings (Table 4).

May 2005 Airline Traffic

For the month of May 2005, U.S. airlines carried 57.0 million domestic passengers, 6.8 percent more than in May 2004 (Table 5).

These passengers were carried on 846,880 flights, up 0.5 percent from the flights operated in May 2004.

In other month-to-month domestic comparisons from May 2004 to May 2005:

Revenue passenger miles, a measure of the number of passengers and the distance flown, were up 7.5 percent.

Available seat-miles, a measure of airline capacity, were up 3.1 percent.

Passenger load factor, passengers carried as a proportion of available seats, was up 3.2 percentage points.

Flight stage length, the average non-stop distance flown per departure, was up 3.2 percent.

Passenger trip length, the average distance flown per passenger, was up 0.6 percent.

Among airlines, Southwest Airlines carried 7.8 million domestic passengers during May, the most of any airline (Table 6).

Among airports, Hartsfield-Jackson International in Atlanta was the busiest U.S. airport for domestic travel during May, with 3.5 million passenger boardings (Table 7).

Additional airline traffic data can be found on the BTS website at TranStats, the Intermodal Transportation Database at http://transtats.bts.gov. Click on "Aviation," then on "Air Carrier Statistics (Form 41 Traffic)," then click on "T-100 Domestic Market."

Data are compiled from monthly reports filed with BTS by commercial air carriers detailing operations, passenger traffic and freight traffic. May traffic data are preliminary and include data received by BTS from 124 airlines as of Aug. 5. Data are subject to revision.

Revised data from April 2005 and previous months are posted on the BTS website at http://transtats.bts.gov. BTS will release June traffic data and revised data from May and previous months on Sept. 15.

Table 1: Domestic Airline Travel January to May

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Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Domestic Market and Segment

* The average non-stop distance flown per departure in miles

** The average distance flown per passenger in miles

Table 2: Total Industry Domestic Enplanements

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Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Domestic Market

Table 3: Top 10 Airlines, ranked by January-May 2005 Domestic Enplanements

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Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Domestic Market

Table 4: Top 10 Airports ranked by January-May 2004 Domestic Enplanements

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Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Domestic Market

Table 5: Domestic Airline Travel in May

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Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Domestic Market and Segment

* The average non-stop distance flown per departure in miles

** The average distance flown per passenger in miles

Table 6: Top 10 Airlines, ranked by May 2005 Domestic Enplanements

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Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Domestic Market

Table 7: Top 10 Airports ranked by May 2005 Domestic Enplanements

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Source: Bureau of Transportation Statistics, T-100 Domestic Market